I cannot possibly say enough about this film. The cast is legendary...Helen Hayes, David Niven, Jody Foster, and Leo McKern...the plot will have you on the edge of your seat, and the locations are beautiful. Jody Foster is superb as the tough as nails ("I ain't deprived, I'm delinquent. There's a difference, you know") Casey Brown who is swept away to England to play the part of the long lost granddaughter of Lady St Edmund of Candleshoe. Her partner in crime is Harry Bundage, who has long been searching for a girl he can use to infiltrate Candleshoe, the St Edmund family estate. The home was built by the notorious ancestor Joshua St Edmund, a pirate, who had allegedly hidden clues to a treasure that was hidden in the house. Mr Bundage's sister who was once employed at the home found the first clue in the man's long lost will, which she discovered hidden in a bedpost. "To the sunrise student, there is treasure among books". Once Casey is accepted into the family, she sets about searching for the subsequent clues to the treasure. Unfortunately she also begins to soften after learning the secrets of the 'family': The old lady is almost broke, but doesn't know. The butler Priory and the orphans who she has taken in are working very hard to make money to save the house and most importantly the old lady's feelings. All of the other 'staff' are actually Priory playing the different parts in order to save money and make the old girl think she has a full staff. He even plays the part of her best friend, the Colonel, who comes to tea. Casey finally realizes the meaning of family and also that the treasure she's been looking for could save the home of the people she's come to love. This leads to a fantastic train race with an edge of your seat climax and a great battle scene between the orphans/Priory and Harry/his thugs in order to get to the hidden treasure! This is a great family movie and my favourite of the Disney live action films. I used to watch it on the Disney Channel as a kid, back when the Disney Channel was great! Because of it, I even became a huge fan of Robert Gray, whose Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard is used as one of the clues in the film ("The paths of glory lead but to the grave.") So much of a fan that I begged my mother to buy me an old leather-bound Victorian copy at an auction, which I treasure and always reminds me of Candleshoe! Such a lovely and memorable film! I love it so! 10/10!!!!
Review of Candleshoe
